tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58626463518516822872014-10-06T21:20:52.212-07:00Mme Weber's LLED480 BlogDeborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-7651370139525746742012-08-09T23:03:00.001-07:002012-08-09T23:03:51.230-07:00Activité 1: Apprendre le vocabulaire pour se présenterEn classe, les étudiants apprennent les mots/phrases nécessaires pour se présenter et écoutent/lisent quelques exemples de personnes qui s’introduisent. Ils font une liste des nouveaux mots et expressions en classe qu’ils mettent sur des cartes flash dans quizlet et qu'ils apprennent par la suite. <br><br><div style="background: #fff; padding: 3px;"><iframe height="315" scrolling="no" src="http://quizlet.com/13080655/learn/embed/?hideLinks" style="border: 0;" width="100%"></iframe><select onchange="var quizlet_s=this.options[this.selectedIndex].value;var quizlet_f=this;while(quizlet_f.nodeName.toLowerCase()!='iframe')quizlet_f=quizlet_f.previousSibling;quizlet_f.src=quizlet_s.slice(0,-3);quizlet_f.height=quizlet_s.slice(-3);this.value=0" style="float: right; margin-right: 3px;"><option selected="selected" value="0">Choose a Study Mode</option><option value="http://quizlet.com/13080655/scatter/embed/?hideLinks&amp;height=410">Scatter</option><option value="http://quizlet.com/13080655/learn/embed/?hideLinks&amp;height=315">Learn</option><option value="http://quizlet.com/13080655/familiarize/embed/?hideLinks&amp;height=310">Flashcards</option></select><br /><div style="float: left; font-size: 11px; padding-top: 2px;"><a href="http://quizlet.com/" style="float: left; margin: -2px 6px 0pt 2px;"><img alt="Quizlet.com, home of free online educational games" border="0" src="http://quizlet.com/a/i/quizlet-embed-logo.xk8e.png" title="Quizlet.com, home of free online educational games" /></a> <a href="http://quizlet.com/13080655/se-presenter-flash-cards/">Study these flash cards</a> | <a href="http://quizlet.com/subject/french/">Study french flash cards</a></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-54307971985882892372012-08-09T23:03:00.000-07:002012-08-09T23:03:42.929-07:00Activité 2: Se présenter à la classeEn classe, les étudiants écrivent un petit texte dans lequel ils se présentent. Ensuite, ils enregistrent leur texte avec Audioboo. À la maison, les étudiants écoutent la présentation de leurs amis. L'enseignant pourrait leur donner une feuille de travail avec des questions à répondre pendant l'écoute ou il pourrait simplement annoncer qu'il y aura un jeu compétitif au prochain cours dans lequel il s'agit de savoir le plus de détails possibles sur les autres étudiants. <br><br><div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/896684-mme-weber-se-presente/embed"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/896684-mme-weber-se-presente">listen to &#x2018;Mme Weber se présente&#x2019; on Audioboo</a></div><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-16525636653953269662012-08-09T22:45:00.000-07:002012-08-09T22:45:29.178-07:00Activité 3: Connaître les autres et pratiquer le vocabulaireEn classe, les étudiants remplissent un petit questionnaire sur eux-mêmes et sur leurs vies. Encore une fois, les étudiants notent les nouveaux mots et expressions et les pratiques dans quizlet. À partir des données des questionnaires, l’enseignant crée un petit jeu de Jeopardy. Avant de jouer le jeu, l'enseignant pourrait faire quelques exercices de révision afin de revoir comment poser des question en français. <br><br><a href="http://jeopardylabs.com/play/notre-classe">My Jeopardy Template</a>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-48560132378495080902012-08-09T08:09:00.002-07:002012-08-09T08:09:25.214-07:00Reading 10<br /><div class="MsoNormal">I think personal devices could be extremely useful in class. I could imagine, for instance, that I designate a dictionary user per class who will look up words for us on their cell phone whenever we need some help. When the students are specifically working with vocabulary or a challenging text, everybody could be looking up words on their cell phones.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">One of the points I disagree with is taking pictures of notes. One of the interviewed teachers says: “If kids are taking notes they inevitably miss some of the information, because they are focusing on writing things down instead of paying attention to what is being said.” I learn through writing, and taking notes has always been extremely important to me. It gives me a point of focus. If I am asked to just listen, I find I cannot focus as well. If I did not write something down and if I just took a picture of what the teacher wrote on the board, I would not understand it as well later. But this might be my personal learning preference, and I know that for some students writing is a huge hurdle. For these students, taking pictures with their cell phones might be a good idea.</div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-65551851652289147042012-08-08T12:23:00.001-07:002012-08-08T12:36:28.017-07:00Mme Weber's Prezi<div class="prezi-player"><style type="text/css" media="screen">.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><object id="prezi_ecsp8nsyup3w" name="prezi_ecsp8nsyup3w" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="550" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowFullScreenInteractive" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=ecsp8nsyup3w&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_ecsp8nsyup3w" name="preziEmbed_ecsp8nsyup3w" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowFullScreenInteractive="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=ecsp8nsyup3w&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><div class="prezi-player-links"><p><a title="Mme Weber's Prezi" href="http://prezi.com/ecsp8nsyup3w/mme-webers-prezi/">Mme Weber's Prezi</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com">Prezi</a></p></div></div><br />This is the first time I have used Prezi and it takes some time getting used to. Just putting together this small presentation took me a while. I think that Prezi could be very useful though. Having my students work with it would mean that I would have to get very good at it so that I could teach my students how to make a good presentation. One of the useful features of Prezi is that you can have several persons edit the presentation at the same time. Students could work in groups and collaborate on presentations. In our literature class, we used Prezi to keep track of our literature circle discussions. Every member of the literature circle had a role and posted his or her contribution in the assigned space. At the end, the teacher was able to see our finished product as a Prezi presentation.Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-78017916687141452692012-08-07T19:06:00.002-07:002012-08-07T19:06:16.916-07:00Reading 9<br /><div class="MsoNormal">I think the author of this blog post makes some very good points about “powerpointlessness”, a term I like a lot. I think all of us have been to one of these terrible power point presentation/lectures where the person talking was reading everything that was on his or her slides, or bombarded the audience with so much text that you just gave up reading what was on the slides. Today, university professors use power point presentations and then tell the students that they do not need to take any notes because the presentation will be on the course website. In this situation, as a student, I ask myself why I should even come to class if what the professor is saying is not worth taking notes of and if everything that is of value is on the power point slides. So I completely agree with the blog’s author that a power point presentation is just a support, and nothing more. I think as teachers, we should encourage our students to use power point, but teach them some simple rules of how to present things. Also, I think that working on oral presentation skills (how you say things in a simple way, how you emphasize things, how you engage your audience) might be worthwhile so that power point becomes just a tool again, and not the focus of the presentation.</div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-59513922779876849342012-08-07T12:43:00.001-07:002012-08-07T12:43:11.965-07:00Mme Weber's Presentation<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/embed?id=1X42pSmUEA-wEAe8FrduszQIEQYnhMB2FMYd2H4oCiBo&start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="500" height="400" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-37415432283074087522012-08-07T12:27:00.000-07:002012-08-07T19:35:01.242-07:00Mme Weber's Exit Slip<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dE1wMXZ4eUg4bjlSTVVpeUJ0WU5YcVE6MQ" width="500" height="400" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe><br /><br />These google tools could be used for a variety of activities in class. The google doc is a great way of working on a project together as a group since every member can contribute something. The same is true for google presentation. My favourite is the google forms. I really like the the idea of an online exit slip that students can fill out after class. Student could also use this tool to create their own questionnaires that they could do for a research project. Just like in university, students could do research on a topic, create a questionnaire, and then find people who will answer the questions. As a final step, they could present their findings in class.Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-20316834969579139372012-08-07T11:45:00.001-07:002012-08-07T12:34:46.713-07:00Mme Weber's Doc<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=12ECwdFisVOOMj-QcKAZO6J6HX7nRGYQSIutY5l-SAVE&amp;embedded=true"></iframe>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-67428241342958093832012-08-06T17:33:00.001-07:002012-08-06T17:34:29.370-07:00Reading 8Collaboration is very important, no doubt about it. BUT I think there should be limits to group work. I have done so much group work during this year that I have come to think that I never want to submit my students to as much work with partners.<br /><br />That being said, I really like Peter Skillen’s suggestions about collaboration and co-construction of knowledge. I could imagine that students would be more engaged in online journals than paper journals: it is somehow easier to make comments on each other’s work online than it is in the “school context” of a written journal. It is probably a good idea to make commenting a part of the assignment. But I can also imagine that these prescriptions might become just like another worksheet, as Skillen mentions. It would be interesting to find out more about how he encourages students to engage in deeper thinking and understanding, rather than making superficial comments. How do you teach this to students?Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-33053204154791852142012-08-02T12:34:00.000-07:002012-08-02T12:47:06.313-07:00Mme Weber's Cheese Scoop<iframe src="http://www.scoop.it/t/mme-weber-s-cheese-site/js?format=square&amp;numberOfPosts=8&amp;title=Mme+Weber%27s+Cheese+Site&amp;speed=3&amp;mode=normal&amp;width=395" align="middle" frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" width="395"></iframe><br/><br/> Scoop could be used for a research project that students do in French class. Students could for example research their favourite francophone artist, or do some research on a francophone country. I could ask them to post the five most important and pertinent websites they found in the form of a scoop post. My scoop is on cheese. I could imagine doing a cheese testing in class and give my students some reading activity around my scoop about cheese/cheese-making/cheese-testing. Another application would be to use scoop for professional development. I could do one on a particular topic, e.g. French immersion, reading etc. in order to collect new ideas.Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-41228830280674145872012-08-01T22:44:00.001-07:002012-08-01T22:44:41.670-07:00Sidenote About Parenting and Technology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7YgQF_urCWg/UBoTYGt0lFI/AAAAAAAAACE/Hwg1B3vmnpY/s1600/best%2Bparenting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="168" width="299" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7YgQF_urCWg/UBoTYGt0lFI/AAAAAAAAACE/Hwg1B3vmnpY/s320/best%2Bparenting.jpg" /></a></div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-30500945729491956452012-08-01T21:32:00.003-07:002012-08-01T21:32:58.549-07:00Reading 7<br /><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">The title of today’s article is “understanding content curation”, but unfortunately, I still do not really understand what the author means by “content curation”. I have only really heard the word curating in the context of museums or art galleries where a curator is responsible for putting together a collection. When the author talks about “curating resources to accompany the backwards-planned, inquiry-based units of instruction”, what does she mean? Does she mean that teachers carefully put together resources that the students can then explore on their own? But what does she mean by students being curators? The author does not really explain how students can contribute to the process. The whole article seems rather abstract to me, and I feel like I do not have enough of an understanding of the basic term (curating) in order to understand it.</div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-43468757441889190142012-08-01T12:20:00.001-07:002012-08-01T21:45:33.431-07:00PodcastingPodcasting is a great idea for the classroom. As I pointed out in my comments to reading 6, I could imagine doing a news broadcast with my students in French about what is new in their community. Every week, two students could record a podcast, we could listen to it, and do some listening activities around it. We could have literature discussions/book reviews in French Immersion class in which students present their books. Students could also do a music review podcast in which they review some of the music we listened to in French class. In social studies class, the students could do research on a topic and then interview each other on the findings. The possibilities are endless!<br /><br /><br /><div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/905416-mme-weber-s-podcast/embed"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/905416-mme-weber-s-podcast">listen to ‘Mme Weber's Podcast’ on Audioboo</a></div><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-61515313043178142492012-07-31T22:09:00.001-07:002012-07-31T22:21:04.793-07:00Animal Life<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;"><div style="position: relative;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/animal_life/set?.embedder=4326995&amp;.svc=blogger&amp;id=54934318"><img alt="Animal Life" border="0" force="1" height="333" src="http://cfc.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-set/.sig/0rBPxnBPkaoyod3ZVou61w/cid/54934318/id/mhW2QDNjQS6vn5qtrKvCeQ/size/c300x333.jpg" title="Animal Life" width="300" /></a></div></div><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:ApplyBreakingRules/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">I tried out Polyvore today and I could see that the site might be appealing for teenagers. I have some issues with it though. Do we really want to encourage our students to spend even more time than they already do thinking about outfits and make-up? It is fun to make a collage for sure, and of course, our students could then present their collage in the target language. But it seems just so superficial to me. Every item on the site is for sale, and most of the items are crazily expensive. I don’t know if I want to encourage my students to be even more consumption-oriented than they already are. I tried to do more of a funny animal collage than a fashion one, but it is hard to find images that are not of very young, very skinny girls. So unless I can think of a way to do something critical with this site, I will not use it with my class.</div></div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-45642324192956964512012-07-31T21:40:00.002-07:002012-07-31T21:40:33.204-07:00Reading 6<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:ApplyBreakingRules/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">Podcasting is a really interesting idea, particularly in an L2 classroom. There are so many great activities that can be done with podcasts. For instance, I could imagine doing a news broadcast with my students in French about what is new in their community. Every week, two students could record a podcast, we could listen to it, and do some listening activities around it. In social studies class, the students could do research on a topic and then interview each other on the findings. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I wonder though if students would really be more motivated to do such an activity then when doing presentations in class. The author of the article claims that web distribution of students’ work motivates them to put their best foot forward. But who is their target audience? I guess putting their podcasts online is more exciting than just presenting in class, but it would be nice to have an idea of who your audience is. </div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-14434428441656699912012-07-30T22:25:00.000-07:002012-07-30T22:53:37.664-07:00Creating Online Books<a href="http://www.youblisher.com/p/395268-L-histoire-de-la-Colombie-Britannique/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.youblisher.com/files/publications/66/395268/200x300.jpg" alt="L'histoire de la Colombie-Britannique"></a><br/><br/>I tried out Youblisher by uploading some of the documents I used in my French Immersion Social Studies class. At first, I had three different PDFs, but then found this site to combine them: <a href="http://foxyutils.com/mergepdf/"></a>http://foxyutils.com/mergepdf/<br/><br/>Once I had my PDFs combined, I was able to upload them as one document, making it a nice little booklet about BC history. Like this, I could create my own textbook about a certain topic (e.g. BC history) and tell students to read certain pages in my textbook as homework. This would cut down on photocopying and student would always have access to their materials (no danger of losing any pages…). I could also imagine students doing a final project using this tool. They could create a newspaper in Social Studies or French class, for instance, upload it to youblisher, and present part of it to the class.Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-44398387519005675542012-07-30T21:04:00.001-07:002012-07-30T21:04:55.469-07:00Reading 5<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:ApplyBreakingRules/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">Charlene Polio suggests that online translators can be useful tools for L2 learning. Some of her ideas are interesting, others I find less appealing. For instance, I wonder if extended translation exercises such as the one Polio proposes (reconstruct the original text from a “weird” translation, p. 4) are really worth spending time on. Given that our students have very little time to practice the target language, should we really be focusing on translations rather than on practising the target language?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">However, I like Polio’s suggestion of comparing different translations. Everybody, including myself uses online tools for translating, and it is extremely important to teach students how to use these tools. As Polio notes, “using translators for vocabulary lessons can illustrate to students the lack of one-to-one correspondence across languages” (p. 4). I could not agree more. Translations are difficult and need to be done carefully. Certain questions cannot be answered by translators, and that is why I like Polio’s idea of making annotated revisions of a text with the option of leaving some questions to be answered by the teacher. Another very simple way of checking if certain phrases are commonly used in the target language is by typing them into google. If a student were unsure whether the phrase “il a cassé la jambe” or “il s’est cassé la jambe” is correct, he or she could type the two sentences into google. He or she would then find that “il a cassé la jambe” provides 12,900 hits, while “il s’est cassé la jambe” produces 129,000 hits. So probably, the second sentence is more commonly used in French. Of course, this method is by no means perfect, but it is another way of checking your language use if you do not have access to a native-speaker/teacher.</div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-33841306386804434492012-07-30T08:43:00.002-07:002012-07-30T08:43:26.947-07:00Reading 4<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:ApplyBreakingRules/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /><style>st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">Adrian Tennant focuses on different types of reading and on how we can teach reading. An aspect that I find particularly interesting when it comes to reading is the question of vocabulary development. I took a class on vocabulary development in the L2 classroom, and we read a very interesting book by Paul Nation, entitled “Learning Vocabulary in Another Language” (2001). Here are some of the most important points Nation makes in regards to reading:<b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span dir="LTR">In order to understand an unsimplified text, an L2 learner needs to understand a minimum of 3,000 word families (educated adult native speakers understand about 14,000 to 20,000 word families)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span dir="LTR">If L2 learners want to read without assistance for pleasure, they need to be able to understand at least 95% of the words in a given text (</span>1 in every 20 words is unknown). Extensive reading is important for vocabulary development. Every year of a native speaker’s early life, he or she adds on average 1,000 word families to his or her vocabulary thanks to reading. This is why graded readers are extremely useful for L2 learners.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span dir="LTR">When teaching vocabulary for reading, focus on the high-frequency words. The 2,000 most frequent word families of the English language provide about 85 to 90% text coverage. So focusing on the most frequent words is definitely useful for reading comprehension.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The list of the 2,000 most frequent words in English is called the General Service List (<a href="http://jbauman.com/gsl.html">http://jbauman.com/gsl.html</a>). As far as I know, researchers have started to compile lists of frequent words in other languages as well.</div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-41102884365811444292012-07-26T12:53:00.001-07:002012-07-30T22:51:19.454-07:00Vive la musique!I often use songs in my L2 classroom. They are very useful to introduce vocabulary and grammar, but also for motivating students and creating an enjoyable classroom environment. This particular song is called "Je te promets" by Zaho who is an Algerian-born Canadian. The song could be used with older grades to practice the subjunctive (T’aimerais que je te _______). The students listen to the song, and fill in the blanks. It could also be used as a starter for a discussion about relationships and expectations in relationships, which is a topic teenagers are usually very interested in. Finally, the song could be a starting point for talking about different regions of the Francophonie: Zaho was born in Algeria and speaks both Arabic and French fluently – why is that? We could talk about French colonialism and the Francophonie today. Students could then research singers or bands from other parts of the Francophonie.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">T'aimerais que je te dise que j'taimerais toute ma vie<br />T'aimerais que j'te promette toutes mes nuits jusqu'à l'infini<br />T'aimerais que je te suive à jamais sans faire de bruit<br />Et que je comprenne tout ceci sans que tu le dises<br /><br />REFRAIN :<br />Mais je ne pourrais te dire ce que je n'sais pas<br />Et je ne pourrais te donner ce que je n'ai pas<br />Et je ne pourrais te fuir même si tout nous sépare<br />Tout ce que je te promet c'est un nouveau départ<br /><br />J'aimerais que le temps s'arrête lorsqu'on se parle<br />Et qu'apparaisse en plein jour dans le ciel 1 milliard d'étoile<br />Pour que je fasse un vux sans que mon soleil se voile<br />Et qu'on puisse être a nouveaux deux sans se faire ce mal<br /><br />REFRAIN :<br />Mais je ne pourrais te dire se que je n'sais pas<br />Et je ne pourrais te donner ce que je n'ai pas<br />Et je ne pourrais te fuir même si tout nous sépare<br />Tout ce que je te promet c'est un nouveau départ<br /><br />Et j'aimerais me cacher sous tes paupières<br />Pour que tu puisses me voir quand tu fais tes prières<br />Et j'aimerais les casser toutes ces lumières<br />Celles qui t'empêchent de voir un peu plus clair<br /><br />...<br /><br />REFRAIN :<br />Mais je ne pourrais te dire se que je n'sais pas<br />Et je ne pourrais te donner ce que je n'ai pas<br />Et je ne pourrais te fuir même si tout nous sépare<br />Tout ce que je te promets c'est un nouveau départ<br />x4</div><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6yUb-hqF_wY?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-27238796958063880132012-07-25T20:06:00.000-07:002012-07-26T09:17:32.765-07:00ScreencastIdeas of how to use this technology: if I had a blog, I could post an instructional screencast of how to use it, how to post comments etc. The students could watch it at home, so it would also be a listening exercise. I could also make a screencast of how to use audioboo if I wanted my students to record something and then post it. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ovfTNgmP53c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-57804454847300516362012-07-25T18:59:00.002-07:002012-07-25T19:03:20.423-07:00Reading 3Thank you for this reading, Gordon! It addresses some of the issues that I raised in yesterday’s posting. I think the questions Barry Tomalin raises are very important, not only for English, but for any language we might be teaching. Here are my answers to two of his questions: <i>&nbsp;</i><br /><br /><i>Should we provide more cultural input in our ELT textbooks or should we ‘deculturalise’ our textbooks to give them the widest application?</i><br />In my opinion, “deculturalizing” language is impossible. How could you possibly treat the distinction between “tu” and “vous” in French as a purely grammatical aspect? Learning to use those two different forms in the culturally appropriate ways (which differ from place to place) is very important. And these cultural nuances need to be taught explicitly. <i>&nbsp;</i><br /><br /><i>Do students need to understand basic English before they begin looking at culture and if so what level are we talking about? Is it A1, A2, or B1 or even B2? </i><br />Cultural aspects of language need to be taught starting in lesson one. How do you say hello? When do you say “salut” and when “bonjours”? As I said before, language and culture cannot be separated and need to be taught together at every level.<br /><br />Finally, I have another question to add: What is culture? I find that we often teach folklore. Is “le Bonhomme Carnaval” really worth teaching year after year? What does it really say about Quebec culture? I think we need to find more exciting and meaningful ways to teach culture. What about a cheese tasting in class, for example? That would be a great way to experience some authentic French culture. Anyway, culture is definitely something we should be thinking about!Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-58610814913439933702012-07-24T20:02:00.001-07:002012-07-24T20:02:34.837-07:00Reading 2I agree with Canning-Wilson in that videos can be a valuable resource in the L2 classroom. However, there are some points in her article that I disagree with. First, I think that the author’s distinction between language, gestures, and facial expressions is a little bit artificial. Of course, we want our learners to understand what is being said, but language does not only consist of words. Gestures and expressions are an essential part of language, and I think videos are a great way of exposing our students to authentic ways of communicating in the target language. In my opinion, learning how to interpret gestures made in a different culture is part of language learning. Second, I think that the author’s suggestion of segmenting a video for L2 learners is a good idea in general. However, the empirical evidence she cites suggesting that students lose interest very quickly when watching a video in another language is not very convincing. Were the students in the study adults or teenagers? Were the beginners or advanced learners? Advanced learners can certainly be exposed to longer videos and can probably focus for a longer time, especially if they are adult learners. Finally, I think that the author’s reminder that videos should be carefully chosen in terms of their educational purpose is certainly a good point. But in my opinion, what is often missing in L2 classrooms is the cultural element (which is part of the BC curriculum!) of a language. Videos are a great way of experiencing culture, and talking about certain cultural aspects. Moreover, just like books, films should sometimes just be enjoyed, and not every single minute needs to be analyzed!Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-40501886346341963532012-07-24T19:15:00.001-07:002012-07-24T19:26:55.499-07:00Using Audioboo in the ClassroomHere is just one idea of how to use this tool: After having listened to my introduction, the students could write a short presentation of themselves (in class with my help), record it, and post it. This could then turn into a wonderful listening activity for the class by the class! After having listened to my students' self-portrait, I could prepare a list of questions (e.g. who in this class was born in China? Who has a cat? Who loves to play hockey?) which the students could answer as a homework assignment after having listened to their peers' audio-portraits. <div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/896684-mme-weber-se-presente/embed"><a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/896684-mme-weber-se-presente">listen to &#x2018;Mme Weber se présente&#x2019; on Audioboo</a></div><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862646351851682287.post-40900321670458286492012-07-23T18:10:00.002-07:002012-07-23T18:10:27.782-07:00Reading 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:ApplyBreakingRules/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">For me as a language teacher, listening is the hardest of the four skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) to teach. I always found the standard listening exercises we present to our students a little dull, so I tend to avoid them in my classes. Another difficulty with listening is that it cannot be tested directly: the only way of measuring what a student understands is by letting the student talk or write about what he or she heard. I do think though that listening is an essential skill that needs attention and practice, as Aponte-de-Hanna points out. We should focus on teaching listening strategies, and I would really like to work on this aspect of my language teaching. But Aponte-de-Hanna does not really provide us with any concrete examples of such strategies. It would have been helpful if the author had included a list of listening strategies that we could teach our students. Apart from strategy use, I wonder how to make listening a more appealing exercise. How can we make listening less of a repetitive, robotic task and more of an interactive activity?</div>Deborah Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17929086782182707686noreply@blogger.com1